


The Spaces Between

by wildlings



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Cupids, Goblins, Inspired by Goblin (K-drama), M/M, Magic, Multi, Supernatural Elements, Urban Fantasy, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-10 08:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20525141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildlings/pseuds/wildlings
Summary: “Jaehyun,” he answers with a quick press of the screen, halting in his place. The scenery is nice enough to take in while he listens to the younger greet him in return. His phone buzzes shortly once again, so he peels it back from his ear briefly to read what flashes across the top before releasing a sigh.“What did Yangyang do?”__Kun's lived hundreds of years on Earth, heartless. Until now.





	1. one: strings.

Autumn crests over the city almost overnight, turning the vivid green leaves a dusky orange and littering the streets with earth toned detritous. Kun can taste the cold in the air, biting ever so slightly. There is almost nothing more beautiful than the sun dipping behind the high mountains in the distance, casting a hazy shadow over the earth while the winds whip the fallen foliage into small funnels.

He tugs his dark jacket closer around his waist, unbothered enough to not button it properly, as he moves down the tree-lined path ahead.

When his phone buzzes, he ignores it easily, but when it lets off a repetitive vibration, he groans mildly before fishing it out of his pocket to read the name that lights up his screen.

_Jung Jaehyun._

“Jaehyun,” he answers with a quick press of the screen, halting in his place. The scenery is nice enough to take in while he listens to the younger greet him in return. His phone buzzes shortly once again, so he peels it back from his ear briefly to read what flashes across the top before releasing a sigh.

“What did Yangyang do?”

The one-worded text message is enough to spur Kun into moving once more, cutting around the huddled groups on the walkway as though he were invisible to them. Jaehyun answers him cordially, a smile evident even in the way he speaks. Always calm, always measured.

“I’m at work, still.” He begins, and Kun frowns, recalling the sunset. “He interfered with a client.” Internally, Kun swears.

“Tonight’s date night, you know. Thursdays are discount night in the lounge Doyoung likes, and you know how he likes to be frugal.”

“I’m sorry, Jaehyun. Can you leave yet? I’ll try my best to handle Yangyang when I get home.”

“Oh, I’m already halfway out the door, but the problem isn’t solved. I can’t find where his string meets anymore.”

“Have you ever encountered something like that before?”

“No. I’ve been at this for a long time, but he did _something_ with the client and the strings that even I can’t figure out. Can I call you tomorrow? I think I’ll need help with this.”

“Of course. Please give your husband my greetings.”

“I will, but do it yourself sometime, hmm? He thinks you should come over for dinner.”

Kun laughs, though it sounds almost hollow. “Whatever Doyo wants. When we sort through this, I promise I’ll come over for dinner.”

“Okay but _you_ promise, so I’m holding you to that. Don’t flake out on me, Kun.”

“Go home! Kiss your husband! Listen to vintage records in the lounge like you wanted to. Bye!”

“Have a good night, Kun-Kun.” Jaehyun ends the call with a sing-song voice, allowing Kun to properly smile as he weaves his way home.

__

Night’s fallen by the time Kun arrives, making his way through the doorway and into his foyer, placing his hat and long coat on the rack stood beside the entrance.

“Xiao Yang!” He doesn’t waste his time, calling out as he trots up the short span of stairs to the living space. A figure shrinks down into the couch, trying to melt into the upholstery, hiding between the pillows.

“Kun-ge, I _swear_ I didn’t realize I was messing with the strings until it was too late.”

Yangyang looks up at Kun with the most pitiful expression, causing all his emotions to dissipate from his body as he exhales.

“A mistake? Not on purpose this time?”

Yangyang nods briskly, tucking his feet under him as he re-settles into the couch, motioning for Kun to join him. “You know I can’t control it sometimes… I think I need a stronger tonic.” His voice sinks low as he speaks, and it takes Kun effort not to sink into the couch beside him and pat Yangyang’s hair in comfort. He awkwardly shifts while he tries to decide how to chide Yangyang and show he cares at the same time.

“I’ll call Taeil and have him send Hendery over with a tonic. Are you hurt, at all?” Kun fixes him with a look, crossing his arms.

“Can Taeil-ge come without Hendery…?” Yangyang mutters, rubbing his arms up and down, shaking his head in answer to Kun. “I’m fine. I don’t think I disturbed anything other than the strings.”

Kun breathes out and lets himself sit on the corner of the coffee table in their living space. He had thought, _hoped_, really, that Yangyang was making progress. It was disheartening to find that he hadn’t actually helped Yangyang much at all. Not if he was still having trouble controlling himself.

“Where were you— When it happened? Jaehyun needs help with the client you interfered with.”

“Is it that bad?” Yangyang whispers, clenching down on his teeth and drawing into himself further.

“No. No, it wasn’t. I’m just going to help him and we’ll work it out. You and I will help Jaehyun.”

“The music hall. They have auditions going on right now for the winter festival. I just wanted to hear.”

Kun raises an eyebrow. They know people at the university, which is helpful. And also, Yangyang is enrolled. “Did you audition?” He tilts his head with a slight smile.

Yangyang rolled his eyes, “No. I didn’t. I still don’t see why I’m _there.”_

Kun senses the tentative moment they’d been having crumble, so he hoists himself up from his knees and moves towards his room. “We discussed this already! You’re finishing school with everyone else!”

“I’m not _like_ everyone else.” Yangyang pouts, but Kun’s already walked up the stairs, pausing at the platform.

“Exactly. So you’ve got a lot to understand. Now, rest, hmm? We’re meeting Jaehyun at dawn.”

__

“What’s with you and the sunrise?” Yangyang greets Jaehyun with a muffled yawn, shuffling closer to Kun as if to ward off the cold wind that rushes off the water to meet them.

“I work well in the light of day.” Jaehyun shrugs, greeting them with his dimpled smile. “Also, it’s pretty.” He misses the minor glare Yangyang throws his way with his statement. “Let’s walk?”

“Okay,” Kun moves along beside him, mindlessly tucking his chin into his turtleneck as they walk. “Has anything changed since last night?”

“Not at all, really. I can’t see his strings anymore. But it feels foreboding, like he’s in trouble because of it. There was something that was supposed to happen, yesterday, at the showcase auditions, but there were too many strings in one place and with Yangyang…”

“To be fair, I didn’t know you were there and I also wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for Kun-ge.” Yangyang cuts in, absolving himself of blame. His arms stay crossed.

They make their way parallel to the water, walking closer to the university campus. Yangyang is grateful, since he has a morning class anyway. Kun enjoys the early morning solace, but he wishes it were under better circumstances.

“You couldn’t be able to tell if he was in danger, though? That has nothing to do with the strings.” Kun looks up to Jaehyun, who pointedly continues ahead without returning his gaze. The music hall approaches quicker than he realizes.

“It’s a feeling Kun. I don’t remember anything like this ever happening before. When I lost the strings, it was like something disconnected in his universe and I’ve been scrambling to put it back in place.” He finally turns to look at Kun. “I’m worried… I couldn’t sleep last night. I… I have no idea how to fix this.”

He pushes easily past the locked door and into the hallway to the auditorium.

It’s barely after dawn, the sun’s just risen higher than the horizon, but someone’s already beat them to the auditorium.

Across the expanse of velvet chairs, someone’s playing a sorrowful tune on a piano off the center of the stage.

“No one’s supposed to be here this early,” Jaehyun whispers, not halting as he moves forward. Whoever it is won’t be able to see them unless they want to be seen, anyway.

They reach the foot of the stage, but it’s only when they cross to the other side that the man comes into view, behind the body of the piano.

He’s sat in the middle of the bench, eyes squeezed shut as he moves along to the tune of the music. Kun detects the warm, earthy smell of coffee and spots the open cup steaming on the bench beside the man, left forgotten.

For a moment they’re all quiet, listening. And then Jaehyun whispers. “This is him, the man whose strings disappeared.”

“John Suh? T.A. John Suh?” Yangyang exclaims, and Kun levels him with a look. “Yangyang, please.”

“Yes. You know him? That’s helpful. We have to keep an eye on him.”

Kun studies him for a moment. The dust speckles in the spotlight twinkle and settle across his shoulders. He still hasn’t opened his eyes, and Kun suddenly feels like a voyeur for staring so intently.

“He’s my literature T.A. he does the accompaniment for the dancers. I think he studied music before he started here, though.” Yangyang shrugs.

“What’s he playing?” Is all Jaehyun asks, but Kun is pulled, once again, into what John is playing. It’s sad, but not something classic. He’s burrowing through his memories for something familiar, but nothing crops up.

“Kun-ge?” Kun physically shakes his head to look down and meet Yangyang’s eyes. “Are you well?”

“He’s ill-fated.” He looks up, over Yangyang, to Jaehyun. “I see what you meant. Yangyang and I will watch over him… but I’m not sure how to help aside from keeping him from the Valkyrie.” Kun frowns. “He looks marked for a reaper.”

“He had a long lifeline before yesterday.”

“Shit—”

“Language.”

“I didn’t… is he going to _die?_ I didn’t… I… Kun-ge?” Yangyang looks up at Kun, colour draining from his face. “Have I changed his fate?” Jaehyun moves to stand in front of them, between the pair and the man sat on the piano bench.

“Yangyang, you don’t have the power to change fates. This isn’t on you.” Jaehyun speaks levelly, but Yangyang looks at Jaehyun for less than a second before he searches Kun’s face for answers. Kun has none.

“No, Yangyang. We’ll figure this out. I’ll make sure they don’t get to him before we find what went wrong.” He lifts his hat to run a hand through his hair, mussing it in the process, thoughtless. “Jaehyun, I’ll keep an eye, for now. You can return to work and we’ll update you if anything changes. See how things work from your end… maybe ask a senior?” He knows there’s a small chance of help, but he dishes out the advice anyway.

“Yangyang,” Kun looks down at the watch at his wrist, a gift. “Hendery is supposed to meet you before your first class to give you a new batch of tonic.” Yangyang opens his mouth, but before he can speak, Kun cuts him off. “Taeil said Hendery stayed up half the night watching the brew, so don’t be difficult and tell him thank you.” His stern voice is on, and Yangyang only huffs before turning on his heel and walking out.

“I’ll leave you, then. Please keep me updated. He seems a decent enough man, it would be a tragedy to lose him early.” Like Yangyang, Jaehyun turns on his heel, but before his body meets him he’s left the room completely, leaving Kun alone with the man finishing up his solo on the piano.

“John Suh.” The name rolls off his tongue. “I hope we can find your strings before they come.”

Kun replaces the hat on his head, moving towards the stage door, disappearing back to his home through the door.

__

“Hello?” Johnny’s almost certain he hears someone call his name as he ends his piece and turns to the edge of the stage, staring over the vast emptiness.

When he looks down at his cup beside him on the bench, miraculously, it’s still steaming.


	2. two: openings.

The sound of a horn runs through the hall, reverberating in the funnel of Kun’s ears. There is a flurry of movement outside the room, yelling, and despite the pitter-patter of rain against the uneven rooftop, there is a searing heat approaching. With a final shrill scream, Kun is roused awake, fumbling blindly in the darkness until he’s able to find his way out from under the duvet cover.

To silence.

There is no one screaming, no fire racing to meet him, no rain against the rooftop.

He sits up, thinking, calculating the last time he had a dream so vivid from so long ago. A memory. He runs his hand down his face, erasing what remnants of the dream and sleep that remained. The clock ticking at his bedside says it’s only four in the morning, but Kun is aware that he won’t be sleeping again for the night.

With resignation, he throws off the covers and steps off the bed and moves to get himself clean and ready for the day.

__

“Day drinking? We do that now?” Joohyun slides into the empty barstool beside Kun and looks at him pointedly, resting her cheek on her palm. “What’s going on, Kun?”

“It hardly qualifies as day drinking if I’ve been nursing the same glass for an hour without much progress.” Kun stares glumly down the bottom of the glass, amber liquid rippling as he swishes it. He hears her inhale, but she doesn’t speak for a moment.

“It’s the memories, again, isn’t it? They haven’t come back for decades, why now?” She sits up, fully facing him from her seat. The bar around them is empty, but Joohyun waves her wrist and the doors close from the distance. When she taps her foot against the barstool, whatever in the periphery was making movements halts. It’s like she’s frozen time. There were patrons across the room, but they’ve gone out too.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Kun shuffles so his back is to the bar, surveying the now very empty room. There had been very few people, given the time of day, but it still was unnecessary to clear them out.

“This takes precedence. Will you tell me, or must I call on Sunyoung and Ten?”

Kun turns slightly to meet her eyes, and clenches his jaw for a second. “Please, Joo. They’re busy. _I’m_ busy. I just needed a drink, and now I’m going.” He steps off from the stool.

“I could have gone anywhere, you know.”

She would have pouted at that, were she anyone else, instead Joohyun raises her chin. “You know you’re safe here. I might annoy you _out of concern_, but you know I mean well.” She easily dismisses his tone.

“Come back when you’re in better spirits and bring company!” With a snap, life seems to resume as Kun makes his way through the doorway. Joohyun tries to catch a glimpse of his destination, but a head pops up from behind the bar and steals her attention.

“Is Kun-hyung okay?” Yerim looks at the door he’d just disappeared through, and Joohyun blinks rapidly. “You know, Taeil-hyung is really concerned about him too. Especially since they haven’t been able to make much progress with helping Yangyang.”

“Were you there the whole time?” Joohyun waits until Yerim turns her focus towards her before raising a brow, causing Yerim to flush slightly while wiping a glass.

“Uhm, yes?” She grants Joohyun a smile, which she hopes will spare her from chastisement. Joohyun narrows her eyes anyway. “Why are you here, right now? You should be with Taeil or at school.”

The smile on Yerim’s face drops. “_Why_ won’t you teach me? Hendery is Taeil-hyung’s ward, his priority… I learn so much from him, but _you_ should be the one teaching me!” Yerim pleads, placing her palms down on the bar. The towel she’d been using to dry glasses falls between her hands to the sticky grate on the floor.

“Speaking of learning, I swear there’s a class calling your name right now…” Joohyun stands from the stool, tucking her hair behind her shoulder.

“What more can we learn? We’ll live years and years, why is human school so important?” Yerim’s hands run wildly through her hair in frustration.

“Ask Taeil, when you meet him later. He did university four times for fun.”

__

“You were supposed to meet me before morning class to get your tonic. _Yesterday_.” Hendery slings his bag over one shoulder, creasing the pressed white t-shirt he’s wearing. Yangyang clenches his jaw as he resumes his journey down the long hallway. 

“You’ve met me now, haven’t you? Therefore, I can receive it now.” He doesn’t spare Hendery a glance, but he can tell his bright smile is frozen on his face for a second, though it doesn’t dull. 

Hendery fishes out three small vials from his trouser pocket, presenting them to Yangyang, who doesn’t slow down for even a second. The hall becomes more congested as they continue, from its near emptiness minutes earlier. 

Yangyang is halted by a soft pressure on the inside of his elbow, the imprint of Hendery’s forefinger. “Take this, too.” He presents a small sun charm on a chain for Yangyang, who looks from the object to the expectant look on Hendery’s face.

A thought flickers through his mind, then, of not accepting the charm from Hendery, and how that would make him feel, but the thought makes him sick enough that he swallows it down quickly. 

“Hendery?” He prompts, accepting the chain with one hand after pocketing the vials. “Don’t be so nice to me. It makes it harder to ignore you.” Yangyang takes advantage of the stunned silence of Hendery to shuffle down the hall to his next class. 

—

In literature class, Yangyang takes a seat beside Dejun who leaves a space beside him open for Jeno, his closest friend. Jeno and Dejun have known each other a year or so longer than Yangyang, but Yangyang never feels particularly close or distant from either of them.

On the other side of the curved lecture room, Yangyang notices that Yerim is waiting for Hendery, glancing at the clock every few seconds.

Just as the class settles into their seats and quiets for the lecture, the backdoor swings open and Yangyang sees Hendery make his way quickly and as quietly as possible to his seat.  
  
“For today’s lesson, we’ll be following the syllabus and reading excerpts from three classics and comparing their expositions on the assumed antagonists in each. We’ll have volunteers read aloud from the samples on the screen ahead, everyone else can follow along.”

Yangyang watched the T.A., Professor Suh, pace across the expanse of the floor in the front of the class. “Once we’ve finished reading, we’ll split into groups and come up with points to share amongst the class, okay?”

The lesson continues over the hour, Yangyang finding himself loving Frankenstein’s monster more and more as they continue. It comes to a crux when the conversation switches from comparing monsters across the three classics to comparing Victor Frankenstein to the monster that he created. Yangyang sympathizes with the monster and finds himself disliking Frankenstein quite a bit.

“We’ll continue this next lesson, but it would help if you finished up the Frankenstein reading and started on the Wilde novel. Thank you for a lively discussion, your assignment will be up on canvas tonight!”

For the first time in a while, Yangyang hadn’t been counting down minutes until the class was over, and it catches him by surprise. Jeno passes behind him and taps on his shoulder in goodbye while Dejun waits for him to stuff his books back into his bag before he notices something in front that has him furrowing his brows. “Why is Kun-ge here?”

Yangyang looks up and see’s that Kun’s appeared through the door at the bottom of the lecture hall, opposite where most of the students are exiting. “No idea, but let’s check.”

While Yangyang skips steps as he hurries down the stairs to meet Kun, Dejun all but glides and still arrives beside Yangyang at the same time. “What brings you to class, Kun-ge?”

“We have an issue.” Kun glances up, across the room to where John Suh is taking his time packing his bag. “I’ve already stopped him from doing something disastrous two times this morning… The strings problem seems to be escalating. Can you two keep an eye on him for the rest of the morning? I have to speak with Jaehyun and pay someone a visit.”

“Disastrous as in… harmful disastrous?”

“You would not believe how dangerous a French press is.” Kun looks distressed as he says it, so Dejun doesn’t prompt him for more information. Instead, he subconsciously mirrors the look. Yangyang looks between them and frowns.

“Sure, Kun-ge. Ge and I will worry about Johnny, you figure things out with Jaehyun-ge. Who are you meeting with?”

Kun grimaces. “The Valkyrie. He’s going to be upset by my request.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I’ll see, at least. Oh, he’s coming this way! I’m just gonna—” Dejun turns his head and notices that Professor Suh is making his way towards them, but as he turns back he sees that Kun has already made his way through the doorway to another location.

“Dejun, Yangyang, did you have any questions? Who was that?”

Yangyang blinks, unused to Kun’s weird behavior, and shakes his head. “No, just wanted to say we really enjoyed today’s lesson, thank you. That was just… my uncle, Kun-ge. We have a family situation and I wasn’t answering my phone.”

“Oh, I do hope things are okay. And I’m glad you enjoyed the class. I hope the next one is this good, I’ll be observed next week.” Johnny grimaces. “Wish me luck?” He makes his way out through the same door as Kun.

Dejun and Yangyang follow shortly.

__

“You want me to singlehandedly stay a reaping.”

“Correct.”

“That’s literally my entire job.”

Kun turns away from the view and looks at his companion, arms resting in the barrier in front of him, wind whipping his hair around his face. “Just for a little while. Until I solve our problem.”

“I can’t believe you’re asking a reaper not to reap.”

“I’m asking _very_ nicely. Pretty please. He’s not supposed to be taken. I watched his fate change in front of my own eyes.”

“Kun-ge, I want to do this. I would do _anything_ for you. But this is my _entire_ existence. I am a Valkyrie. I move souls. I honestly don’t know if I can stop this from happening… I’ve never tried it.”

“That’s all I ask, Yukhei. Just try. I’ll fix it.”

“You owe me. Like a century worth of favours.”

“You get two decades at best, three if you manage this.”

“Sold. Who is this John Suh, anyway? Someone important?”

Kun rubs a hand over the bottom half of his face. “I'm honestly... not sure yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter was all over the place, there are a lot of characters to introduce as things start to move along.  
comments would be greatly appreciated. thank you so much for the support, it means a lot.


End file.
